ARLINGTON — With the Yankees holding a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning on Tuesday, a costly — and ugly — error let the Rangers back in the game.
The blunder saw LeMahieu drop a chopped groundball right on top of first base. It should have been an easy out, but the Rangers’ Josh Smith reached safely after hurdling Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle, who slid as he recovered the ball.
“Lost it in the lights,” Aaron Boone said when asked about LeMahieu’s error.
DJ, man…..
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks)
The Yankees lost a whole lot more than the baseball, as Jake Cousins allowed a softly-hit infield single to Marcus Semien and an RBI single to Josh Jung after replacing Kahnle. Jung’s hit came on a ball that Gleyber Torres could have potentially turned two on, but it got by him.
Boone called that one a “tough play” on an in-between hop.
“If he stabs it, we probably get a double play there,” the manager said, but a Nathaniel Lowe sacrifice fly then brought the Rangers within one before the eighth inning ended.
The ninth saw more traffic for the Rangers, as Clay Holmes loaded the bases by permitting a single and two walks with one out. With Holmes struggling to control his stuff, Wyatt Langford then became the first Rangers rookie to hit a walk-off grand slam by crushing a hanging slider.
Their implosion complete, the Yankees lost, 7-4, as Holmes blew his 11th save of the year in epic fashion.
“There’s been times I’ve thrown well but I’ve gotten beat,” Holmes said. “Obviously, tonight was one of those where I didn’t throw very well, wasn’t very good at all. I definitely didn’t deserve to come out on top there with the way I was throwing. It’s one of those things where in those outings, you have to find a way to make a pitch. I tried to find the strike zone there with the slider and just left it up. I think it’s one of those moments where you learn from and see what you’re made of and bounce back.”
The Yankees’ sloppy ending wasted a strong performance from Carlos Rodón. He struck out 11 in his 28th start, setting a new season-high while holding Texas to one run over six innings. He also walked two over 99 pitches.
The only hit Rodón allowed came on a Jung solo homer in the fourth inning.
“I thought [Jose Trevino] was really great back there as far as mixing it up,” Rodón said. “He made a really good plan and I just followed it. I executed some good pitches.”
Meanwhile, former Yankee Andrew Heaney blanked the Bombers for five innings. The southpaw struck out eight himself while holding the Yankees to three hits and one walk.
The Yankees took the lead in the seventh, thanks in huge part to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s legs.
The speedy nuisance took a huge lead off second base and essentially walked to third to force a balk from José Leclerc. Anthony Volpe, also getting a huge jump, advanced to second on the play. Chisholm proceeded to score the tying run on a Jose Trevino groundout.
Alex Verdugo, a months-long target for Yankees fans, followed up by knocking a 61.6-mph single to drive Volpe in.
Chisholm also beat out a groundball to load the bases for Volpe with two outs in the eighth. Volpe went on to drive in two runs with a single, but that proved insufficient thanks to LeMahieu’s error in the bottom of the frame and Holmes’ latest disaster.
With Tuesday’s loss, the Yankees fell a half-game behind the Orioles for first place in the American League East. The two teams have been neck and neck for a while, and it seems like that will remain the case with less than a month to play.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Holmes said. “We know that. It’s going to come down to the wire. Every day matters. Every game matters. We understand that. It’s why we’re here. We’re ready to compete and get after it. I think the intensity is there. We have to show up every day preparing to win. We gotta come with that mindset every single day that today’s the most important day and take care of business today.
“This one hurts. I’ll be better and we’ll bounce back. We’ll get them tomorrow.”
